O'Neill Confident of Stan Signing

Martin O'Neill has re-iterated his confidence that Bulgarian midfielder Stiliyan Petrov will sign a new contract.

The former Celtic star, who took rather a long time to settle into the idea of playing in a proper league is coming up on his last contracted season with the club and his former boss from the Glasgow days is eager to get him tied down to a new one at Villa Park as he explained on skysports.com:

"We have said all along that we want Stiliyan to stay and we are making really good progress,'

"I have been delighted with him this season and he was determined to show people the real Stiliyan Petrov after a difficult start to his career at Villa"

Meanwhile 'Stan' has been quizzed by the official website, avfc.co.uk about the upcoming Premier League clash against a Fulham side that have surprised many with their good form as they hunt down the last Europa Cup spot, something that wouldn`t have been a likely consideration in many folks minds at the start of the season.

Petrov believes that it will be no pushover, as they are a team that know how to play - handy really!

"They have a very good manager who knows what he wants and they're a very organised side.

"They are a side who know how to play, they are in good form and they're playing well at home.

"But on the other hand we'll go there and try to win. I hope that we can start winning now and try to play much better."